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Seeking the comforts of home

When the picture of a soldier in the movie theatre moved across the wire this morning, I was reminded of the image my cousin, Ryan, posted on his Facebook page from his recent tour in Afghanistan of him and his buddies in a homemade swimming pool. I was struck by the contrast of how posh the surroundings seem to be at the Kandahar Airfield in comparison to the harsh environment of the Helmand Province. The less-than-ideal conditions of Helmand in which showers and numerous other comforts aren't available for months, inspired Ryan and his fellow Marines to get pretty creative with what was available to them. They also built a couch out of MRE boxes and sandbags.